Wish Upon A Chef

After spending a (not nearly) long (enough) weekend at the beach, I now have a craving for all things seafood.  My family rented this gorgeous beach house in Georgetown, SC for a week as a surprise for my grandmother's 80th birthday and we all traveled from near and far to spend some time with her.  We had worked really hard to keep it all a secret so she would think she was going to enjoy a leisurely week at the beach with just my parents, but even at that we worried that maybe she was on to us and was really just pretending she didn't know what awaited her.  I mean, after raising my mother and her three siblings and dealing with the antics of all us grandchildren, she has to be a pretty smart woman.  Needless to say, we pulled one over on her. 

As Boy Toy, his daughter and I headed to Georgetown, we were oblivious to the fact that tropical storm Alberto was swirling around out in the Atlantic and even though we didn't get to do typical beach activities once we got there, we still had a fabulous time.  Check out these awesome photos of our little one enjoying the turbulence of the waves crashing onto the deck of the house. 



Dude, I have a 13-year-old brother...this tropical storm is NOTHING!



She didn't get to go to the beach, so the beach came to her!

Halibut is one of my favorite types of fish to prepare because its flavor is mild and you can dress it up with almost any kind of sauce or topping.  I love this recipe for Halibut with Pineapple Salsa because it's super easy and the jalapenos give it just the right amount of zestiness.  Even better is the fact that this entree can be prepped and ready in about 15 minutes.  The salsa is also great spooned over grilled chicken or you could make it in a larger quantity and scoop it up with tortilla chips as part of a Mexican feast.



Halibut with Pineapple Salsa
Serves 4

1/2 cup dried pineapple, diced
1/2 cup red bell pepper, diced
1/4 fresh cilantro, chopped
2 teaspoons jalapeno pepper, minced
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
4 halibut steaks (4 oz each)
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper
Non-stick cooking spray

Combine first 7 ingredients in a bowl and stir well.  Let stand for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Brush fish with 1 teaspoon oil and season with salt and pepper.

Place fish on a grill pan coated with cooking spray and cook about 5 minutes on each side over medium high heat until fish flakes easily with a fork.

Serve with salsa.

I fell off the blogging wagon last week and I'm sorry that I let you down, my faithful reader(s).  I should be tarred and feathered and sent to my room with no dinner.  Or maybe just tarred and feathered because I've got some really good stuff cooking on the stove today. 

I made a resolution at the beginning of this year that I would publish a blog post here at Wish Upon A Chef every week of the year.  It was my attempt to be more attentive to my blog and to get back into the kitchen to do the things that I love.  I even have this little Post-It Note list in my desk drawer that I derive great pleasure from when checking off each week after I publish.  Sort of like the chart of chores that you do for your kids and award a gold star for each chore accomplished.  I kept my resolutions for 19 weeks before I failed. 

As week 20 rolled around, my house became chaotic while I had some painting done and on top of that, I was all excited about packing for my weekend beach trip. The week came and went and it dawned on me while en route to the beach and the TomTom was taking me off-course through corn fields and desolate towns that I totally forgot to publish.  No gold star for me. 

But perhaps you'll forgive me if I share my recipe for these tasty Teriyaki Tailgate Tenders.  The Boy Toy and I tailgated at the Charlotte Knights baseball game with some friends and I brought these along so I wouldn't have to suffer the digestive indignity of eating a hot dog.  I noticed that even the kids were gobbling them up.  You can certainly use the marinade for chicken breast halves if you're just hanging around the house using the grill - you'll just need to grill them a bit longer.  These would also work great as an appetizer served with maybe a sweet and sour sauce or hoisin sauce for dipping.  I took along a simple pasta salad and made some happy and full tailgaters. 



Teriyaki Tailgate Tenders

1/2 cup soy sauce
4 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
Juice of 2 limes
2 teaspoons minced garlic
2 teaspoons chopped fresh cilantro
Chicken tenders (I made about 20 skewers)
Wooden skewers

In a small bowl combine soy sauce, honey, vegetable oil, lime juice, cilantro and garlic. Thread tenders onto wooden skewers and marinate for at least 30 minutes or overnight.  Cover them while they are marinating.  After I threaded the tenders onto the skewers, I placed them in a 9x13 baking dish with the ends of the skewers resting on the sides of the baking dish. This prevented the whole skewer from being submerged in the marinade and getting all messy. I marinated overnight and turned the skewers occasionally to make sure the chicken was coated.  To make them easier to transport, I removed the skewers from the marinade and transferred them to a large disposable plastic container. 

Grill over medium high heat for 6 to 8 minutes on each side or until juices run clear.

In an effort to eat healthier, I've lately found my shopping cart filled with items that I don't purchase on a regular basis, scallops being one of them.  I've probably eaten scallops only twice in my life because they don't rank very high on my list of seafoods that I enjoy.  That's not to say that I entirely dislike them, it's just that I don't think about preparing them very often.  That's about to change. 

I recently learned that a three ounce serving of steamed scallops packs a whopping 22 grams of protein and only 1 gram of fat.  They also have omega-3 fatty acids and are loaded with vitamins and minerals ~ magnesium, zinc, phosporous, and B-12 just to name a few.  It's so hard to know these days if what we are eating is, in fact, good for us but that sounds pretty darn healthy, don't you think?

I prepared this  scallop recipe for my Charlotte Healthy Food Examiner column (What?! You didn't realize those awesome articles were coming from me??) and even though I've never been much for curry, I enjoyed it enough that I'll start looking for other ways to use a little bit of curry in my recipes. I guess we just never really know if our tastes have changed unless we keep trying things. 

This recipe for Lemon Caper Scallops from Rachael Ray is quick and easy and only dirties up one pan which is my kind of cooking on a busy weekday evening.  The combination of simple ingredients created a rich and delicious satisfying meal and granted the 1 gram of fat from the scallops was offset by adding the butter, but when I realized that I had only eaten 5 scallops and was completely full, I was okay with that.  I'd rather have added fat from a natural substance like butter instead of  margarine which is highly synthesized and in no way natural because our body does need a source of some fat in the diet.  I had picked up some tomatoes from the farmers' market earlier in the week and served a lovely salad caprese along with this.  A heathy, unprocessed meal! 

Discover (or rediscover) the easiness and deliciousness of scallops with these recipes and keep stepping outside the box by trying foods you haven't in awhile....you may just surprise yourself!

Lemon Caper Scallops
Every Day with Rachael Ray, May 2012

10 large scallops 
5 tablespoons butter 
1 large lemon, peeled, 4 segments chopped and remainder juiced 
2 tablespoons capers, drained 
2 tablespoons chopped parsley

Season scallops. In a large skillet, melt 1 tbsp butter over medium-high. Add scallops; cook until golden, 3 minutes. Transfer to plate. Brown remaining butter. Add remaining ingredients; season. Spoon over scallops.

There are times when a salad just won't do the trick to satiate your appetite, even one loaded with chicken for protein.  But take those same salad-making items, twist them around and you have quick and easy Chicken Caesar Florentine ~ a chicken breast stuffed with fresh spinach and coated with crushed garlic croutons and zesty Caesar dressing.

It's perfect for those time-crunched evenings when dinner needs to come together quickly and better yet, it's kid-friendly!  


Chicken Caesar Florentine

Adapted from Taste of Home Cooking Magazine, Dec/Jan 2012
Serves 4

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
1-1/2 cups Caesar salad croutons, coarsely crushed, divided
1/2 cup fresh baby spinach, roughly chopped
1 cup creamy Caesar salad dressing, divided
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast cutlets

In a large bowl, combine 1/2 cup cheese, 1/2 cup crushed croutons, spinach and 1/2 cup salad dressing. Place equal amounts of mixture vertically along the center of the chicken cutlets and roll up into a bundle.  Secure bundles with toothpicks.

Place remaining dressing and crushed croutons in separate shallow bowls. Dip chicken in dressing, then roll in croutons.

Transfer to a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish. Bake, uncovered, at 375° for 30 minutes. Sprinkle with remaining cheese; bake 10-15 minutes longer or until a meat thermometer reads 170°.